Gluten Free Fulltime RV Living Grandma
I know I just made you look at Amelia yesterday, but OH. MY. Goodness! Look at this:
Miss Amelia turns 1 year old
If you think that is a good photo, just listen to this: My son made the #1, and my daughter in law and her friend took the photo in their garage, using a sheet as the backdrop. How smart is that? I think they did a fabulous job of it, and saved a ton of money too! Good job, Seth, Sarah, and Jennifer.
Seth in 2004
I don’t write about my son very often, but that does not mean that I don’t love him just as much as I love my girls. It’s just that he doesn’t talk much, and writes less frequently than he calls. He is married to Sarah, and he is the father of Michael, Sarah, Owen and Miss Amelia. He gave Ameila my middle name when she arrived on my birthday, and that made me cry. Happy cry, of course.
Seth in uniform
He has been in the Air Force for going on 17 years now, another thing that makes me really proud of him. He has been stationed in Texas, Guam, England, and now at Andrews AFB. We don’t get to see each other very much at all–the last time I saw him was in March.
Because our family is so spread out, I asked each of my children to make a wish list on Amazon. Seth’s wish list has cracked me up, but it has also given me much pleasure, because I can see from what he has on there that he remembers things I did for him when he was a little guy.
For instance, on his very first Christmas, I gave him a Curious George monkey and one of those stuffed gorillas with a plastic banana in its hand. And look at this stuff from his wish list:
That’s Not My Monkey (Usborne Touchy-Feely Books)
Super Stretch Screaming Flingshot Flying Monkey
When he was a few years older, we lived in a house that was under the landing pattern for a small local airport. The planes flew so low over our house that you could read the letters on their tires. One day my son asked me where they were going, so we got in the car and drove over to a hill across the road from the airport and watched them land. That became a weekly activity. My son has been in love with airplanes ever since. The evidence is right here:
E-Sky 4CH USB Flight Simulator Training Kit For RC Airplanes and R/C Helicopters
Revell B17G Flying Fortress 1:48 Scale
Revell Corsair F4U-4 1:48 Scale
When he was 13, he loved to watch The Frugal Gourmet on TV. And whenever I bought a new cookbook, I would often find him in the kitchen trying out new recipes. Evidently he still loves to cook:
Farberware Classic Stainless Steel 10-Piece Cookware Set
Trudeau Melamine Mixing Bowls, Set of 3
He has always had a warped sense of humor: who else would put these things on their wish list?
Liquid Ass 1 Ounce Bottle Spray Mist
Pull My Finger Fart Finger Pen
But the one thing on his wish list that makes my heart go pitter patter? This:
Love Your Mother. Bumper Sticker
Amelia Summer Gail
Until today, I had four grandchildren–Michael, Sarah, Spencer, and Owen. Three Fab Grandsons, and one Fab Granddaughter. Every time one of my children and their spouse announced that they would be having a new baby, I always said, “You know if you have a girl, you will have to name her after me!” I never really expected that to happen, but a grandma can ask, right?
Amelia and her Mummy, Sarah
This morning, at 12:45 a.m., in a hospital in Maryland, Amelia Summer Gail Parson entered the world. She weighed in at 8 lbs, 13 oz. She is the pride and joy of my son, Seth and his lovely wife, Sarah. And, she shares MY birthday. They called me last night to tell me they were on the way to the hospital. The last time I talked to them was at about 11:45 p.m. Maryland time. Sarah said she was only dilated to 5 cm, so they didn’t expect the baby to arrive any time soon. I told them I had to get up early to go to work, and asked that they just text me, so I would know when I got up whether or not she had been born.
Amelia and her Daddy, Seth
This morning, I called, and Sarah told me Miss Amelia was born just an hour after I last talked to her. She told me there were pictures posted on Facebook, so while I was talking to her, I signed on to look. And that is when I discovered that they HAD named this baby after me. I got so choked up I could barely speak. And my eyes started leaking. My son said that since she was born on my birthday, she had to have my name. Her “middle middle ” name, Gail is my middle name. What a wonderful birthday surprise–not only does she share my birthdate, she shares my name as well!
Our vacation started out with a drive to Birmingham to the VA Eye Clinic for FabGrandpa’s one week post-op check up. Everything looked fine–the doctor said to just keep using the eye drops until they were gone. After the check-up, we headed on over to Georgia.
We checked in at the Holiday Inn, our home away from home for the next week. Got settled in, then I went to pick up our granddaughter. We had a giggley spend the night party that night, with her telling us about her friends, her school, things she likes to do, and things she likes to eat. I think we got to sleep finally at around mid-night. 
Sarah playing on the Webkinz website on Fabgrandpa’s computer.
The next day, we got up early and met Aunt Emily and cousin Spencer for breakfast at the Cracker Barrel across the street from the motel:
Sarah and Spencer coloring at Cracker Barrel
After breakfast, we had a day of shopping at the mall. Because we don’t see her very often, we tend to spoil Sarah rotten when we do. We got her some new jeans, 3 new shirts, a new purse, and a new hoodie. Then we went to Aunt Becky’s beauty shop where we all got haircuts.
Sarah getting her hair shampooed by Becky
The afternoon was spent at Monkey Joe’s, an indoor playground in town. There are lots of things to jump on, lots of room to run and work off some energy.
The kids needed to be active, and the adults needed to rest. I was already exhausted by walking all over the mall.
Dinner that night was at Longhorn Steaks. Mmmm. FabGrandpa, Sarah, and I were joined by Emily and her husband, Tommy, Spencer, and Becky. Just about the time desert was served, my son, Seth, called and said he was almost to the motel. So, we all hurried up so we could get back over there.
That’s my son, Seth–he is in the Air Force and lives in Maryland. The last time we saw them, we were working in Gettysburg, about 100 miles from where he lives. Owen was only two months old then.
He is now a rambunctious two year old. He is so sweet and cuddly, so much fun to be with.
Michael is now a teenager, (YIKES! I have a teenaged grandson? how the heck did that happen?)
We stayed up again, until past midnight, talking and catching up and just being with our kids. We slept late on Sunday, then the kids took the grandkids to the aquarium in Atlanta, while FabGrandpa and I went to meet Becky’s future in-laws.
I did not take pictures of Rafe’s parents, but I can tell you we had a pleasant visit. We met them at O’Charley’s for lunch, then headed over to Rafe’s house, where Becky will be living after they get married next year. His parents are very nice people, we liked them very much. And the house has a nice guest room, where FabGrandpa and I can stay when we are in town. I teased Rafe that it was big enough for a “mother-in-law” suite–it really is, but I don’t really expect to live with them.
We went back to the motel, where we met up with Seth, and his family. Then we all went over to my Mom’s for a short visit. I was ready to drop when we got back to the motel, so I went to bed “sort of” early, about 10 p.m. to get rested up for the next day.
…to be continued…
This is a picture of me, around Thanksgiving, 1971 at my home in Neunkirken, Germany with a vase our neighbors gave me for Christmas. My first husband was in the Army, and I had gone over to Germany to live with him and await the birth of our first child. My son was born in Wuerzburg on November 14, 1971. Shortly after his birth, we found out that my husband was going to get an early release from the Army. So, we opened our Christmas presents early, then immediately packed them up for shipping home. I flew out of Frankfurt, on my way to Atlanta, the day before Christmas Eve. My son was one day short of being six weeks old.
After my husband dropped me off at the airport in Frankfurt, there was a flight delay that lasted about six hours. The delay caused me to miss my connecting flight from JFK in New York, so I sat in the airport in New York for another 12 hours, waiting for a standby flight. I finally got on a flight to Atlanta because my son was the youngest baby waiting, and I was running out of supplies of formula for him. I was so happy to finally arrive in Atlanta at Hartsfield Airport, way beyond exhausted. And when my mother picked me up? The first words out of her mouth were “Be careful with the baby.”
In July of 1985, my kids and I went to Stone Mountain for the day. We picnicked on the lawn in front of the carving, went swimming and stayed for the laser show. It was the second time we went there. The first time was when my son, Seth, was about three years old. He was so scared that the giant rock was going to roll over on us that he couldn’t eat his lunch!
